Beachcomber

The demands for the investigationof Congressman Gregory Meeksgrow each week. Two weeks ago,it was the Committee for Responsibilityand Ethics in Washingtondemanding an investigation of histies to a local realtor who loanedhim $55,000 with no plans for himto pay the money back. This week,it’s the National Legal and PolicyCenter, which is demanding aninvestigation not only into theloans, but into his ties to criminalfinancier Allen Stanford, whofinanced more than a dozen tripsfor Meeks and other legislators atthe same time Sanford was runningone of the largest Ponzischemes in history. In addition,the demand alleges that Meeksinterceded with the president ofVenezuela on the behalf of Stanford,who wanted a snitch sent toprison. Meeks met with the president,and the man did go toprison.

Residents who live in the vicinity of the elevated structure on Beach 68 Street say that their homes are being put in danger by the pile driver working at that location. They say that the driver works all day long and into the evening, shaking their homes so badly that things fall off shelves and the walls are beginning to crack. So far, they have received no relief from anybody in government, although they say they have contacted everybody they could think of.

It has been many years since thefeds cut off the garbage dumpingground in the ocean off Rockawayand since medical waste hasinvaded our shores. That happenedonce again on July 19, however,with syringes, medical wasteand other detritus scattered alongthe shoreline from Beach 84 Streetwest to Riis Park. The ParksDepartment quickly cleaned thewaste material and the beacheswere closed for only an hour, butofficials say they have no ideawhere the waste came from. Oneofficial conjectured that a doctorwho didn’t want to pay for disposingof his medical waste simplydropped it off his boat.

Just last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg broke ground in Staten Island for a $70 million sports facility. The Staten Island park will include an indoor track and field facility. All that, and the mayor still has not signed the waiver to allow Rockaway to build its much less opulent facility, which has no track and field facility.

Word is that the Democratic StateCampaign Committee has targetedState Senator Shirley Huntleyas one of the key races in theupcoming election and the race toretain power in the Senate. Thecommittee has begun pumpingmoney into Huntley’s campaign,even though she has long beenconsidered to have a “safe seat.”

The partial collapse of the boardwalk at two spots about 10 blocks apart has restarted the debate about whether or not trucks or emergency vehicles should be allowed to ride on the shaky edifice. The boardwalk is in disrepair in many places, and some locals blame it on the Parks Department, Police Department, ambulances and repair trucks that regularly ride on the boardwalk. In this case, a Welsbach Electric truck was the culprit. Perhaps it is time that all trucks be banned from the boardwalk except when somebody’s life is in danger.

With only a month to go beforeschool begins anew, only 50 studentshave registered for thefreshman class at Beach ChannelHigh School, thanks largely to themayor’s efforts to shut the schooldown. That will impact both thestaff and the remaining studentsat the school. As Bloomberg saidrecently, if the school doesn’t havethe students, it’s not going to havethe staff or the level of fundingthat it had previously.
Matt Green is on Day 125 of his walk across America. Green started at Rockaway Beach more than four months ago in his walk, which will end one day in Rockaway Beach, Oregon. Presently, he is in Montana and says that he is doing well. “I had this idea to experience a walk across the country a few years ago,” Green told a Montana newspaper. “I just wanted a big adventure, to meet people along the way and share experiences. Some people think I’m crazy, but others think it’s cool.”

Beware! Some locals have recentlyreceived a letter from theAlliance Financial Group in Manhattan.The letter announces therecipient as the winner in the“consumer promotion drawingand Smartedge Sweepstakes.”Along with the letter is a check for$3,870, supposedly drawn in yourname from the Cargo TransportationInternational in Inwood. Theletter advises you to cash thecheck and send a personal checkof your own to the financial group.By the time you find out that theircheck is a phony, they will haveyour good check deposited andwill be gone. The proper authoritieshave been told of the scam,and we hope they close it downquickly. Meanwhile, never sendyour own funds to cover a depositedcheck that you receive in themail.

While the MTA cries poverty and cuts service, including our resident rebate program for the Cross Bay Bridge, only a handful of the top six-figure executives at the agency will lose their jobs. More than 200 staffers at MTA headquarters earn between $100,000 and $350,000. It seems that they should be the first to go before services and programs that impact riders are cut.